Palmerston North’s first Passive House
Heartland city Palmerston North now has its very first certified Passive House project, Hokowhitu Passivhaus....
by Rachel Rose
Updated: Jul 2025
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Electrification is the future (and the future is now)
While electrification will drive up electrical consumption, it will simultaneously lead to a vast decrease in overall energy demand. This is primarily because of the far greater efficiency of electric...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Apr 2025
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Replicable design for energy-efficient homes in India
It’s interesting to see how other nations tackle energy efficiency in buildings. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)’s Handbook of Replicable Designs for Energy Efficient Residential Buildings in India provides...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Apr 2025
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Assessing feasibility of commercial PV generation
EECA recently published guidance for businesses weighing up commercial PV generation. As always, the devil lies in the detail, and understanding the methodology used to assess the viability of solar...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Apr 2025
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Visiting The House, a giant NYC Passive House housing complex
There’s so much to see in New York City, including lots of certified Passive House buildings. Here’s another side trip I did during last year’s family holiday. The House is...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Jan 2025
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Keep designPH up-to-date to avoid Passive House certification hitches
Passive House designers: do you know what version of designPH you are using? It’s important you are using, if not the latest version (2.2.24 at time of writing) then 2.1.15...
by Jessica Eyers
Updated: Jan 2025
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Owl Woods: complex form, superb Passive House performance
This Australian Passive House home is such a stunning departure from a simple rectangle and a great example of how complex forms can still be extremely energy efficient. It goes...
by Rachel Rose
Updated: Dec 2024
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Kara’s last tradies course
It was the end of an era last week, when Kara Rosemeier taught her last CET (certified Passive House tradesperson) in Auckland . Knowing Kara, hers will be a very...
by Jessica Eyers
Updated: Nov 2024
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Passive House buildings still need heating
Here in New Zealand climates, people living in certified Passive House homes need to turn the heater on sometimes. To me as a building scientist and Passive House certifier, this...
by Sara Wareing
Updated: Jan 2025
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H1 insulation requirements are not expensive
How much cost does upgraded insulation required under the revised H1 add to a new build? Much less than anecdotal figures bandied about in the media, according to some solid...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Nov 2024
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Wellington Passive House meet up
The Wellington chapter of PHINZ is hosting a social event on 3 December at the Southern Cross hotel. No presentations or talks, just a relaxed drink with friends and like-minded...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Nov 2024
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The independence of Passive House certifiers
Jessica Eyers was the architectural designer and Passive House designer for this month’s featured case study, a groundbreaking prefab straw home. Jessica ran her own architectural design company from 2012...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Nov 2024
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To advance Passive House, stop myth-busting and start reframing
Presentations by Jess Berentson-Shaw from The Workshop were a highlight of this and previous year’s PHINZ conferences. She offers science-based advice on how the Passive House community can most effectively...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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Why new H1 requirements impact rammed earth construction
The improvements introduced in 2023 to the H1 Energy Efficiency requirements of the New Zealand Building Code have implications for those wishing to build their homes from some natural building...
by Rachel Rose
Updated: Oct 2024
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PHINZ conference highlights solutions to NZ winter energy problem
PHINZ’s annual conference has just finished in Wellington—it was a great weekend and a welcome opportunity to catch up with colleagues-friends. The programme dived deeply into carbon emissions and how...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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Highlights from NZGBC Green Property Summit 2024
I attended the NZGBC Green Property Summit this month. Several presentations stood out. The first was by Sam Archer, who spoke immediately before the Minister of Climate Change—Sam sure put...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2024
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Off-grid PV systems are not carbon-friendly
It’s common for Passive House homes to have solar panels on their roofs. Every Passive House Plus or Passive House Premium project has to generate at least as much energy...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2024
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First US EnerPHit hotel is a beauty
What did you do on your family winter break? I took mine to a PHI-certified EnerPHit hotel, the first of its kind in the US. I really enjoyed our stay....
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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